Is It Possible to Make a Living as a 'Pro' Hacker?

Writing for TechCrunch, IBM's Simon Lightstone says, "There is now a compelling argument for ambitious programmers to live off hackathons: They can forget the long-term slog of building a startup and instead focus on the fun part — the first few days of innovation." His reasoning is that many hackathons are now offering large prizes of up to a million dollars. And one young developer named Brian Clarke already claims to have earned more than $150,000 in hackathon prizes.

On the other hand, if a class of "pro" hackers arises, it could fundamentally change the nature of most hackathons.

If you'd like to try turning "pro" yourself, check out the article for list of hackathons with big prizes.

Enterprise Development Update

Don't miss an article. Subscribe to our newsletter below.

By submitting your information, you agree that developer.com may send you developer offers via email, phone and text message, as well as email offers about other products and services that developer believes may be of interest to you. developer will process your information in accordance with the Quinstreet Privacy Policy.